Where I See White Supremacy: Part 1
Have you ever had a friend that didn’t tell you that you had food in your teeth? Did you look in the mirror, curse, and then wonder if they were really your friend at all? Why does that happen? Is the slight discomfort of making someone aware of a “flaw” severe enough to stay silent? Helping people be self aware is what good humans do for one another. I have been thinking of this scenario and how it translates into being a good community member lately. Some friends and I have been trying to speak out against problematic things that we see in our community lately, mainly white supremacy. The stakes are higher in these conversations, and the conversations are equally more uncomfortable. Leaving things unsaid and unseen is irresponsible, so I am using my lens (camera and personal vision of the world) to show what I have seen in my community in a series on this topic.
I am starting this process in my own backyard. I live on the campus of Hanover College. Colleges in general were once vehicles and enablers for white male supremacy, and there are still plenty of leftover barriers and biases that support those ideals even though campus demographics are changing. This is not a personal attack on Hanover College, it is my alma mater and a place I love very much, but it is important to show that this happens everywhere and needs to be addressed everywhere. Hanover College, this is me as a friend, telling you that you have something in your teeth.
Example 1
I was being literal when I mentioned my back yard. A few months ago I found a swastika carved into a piece of wood on a hiking trail about 300 yards from my house. It made me so angry I immediately scratched it out with my house key. I was alarmed but not ashamed by my visceral reaction to a one inch by one inch symbol. I have revisited it a few times to work harder on removing the image, even drawing a heart in its place. Reflecting on it, I should have reported it to campus safety immediately, and while I can assure that I have since notified campus safety, I didn’t think to do this for a long time. A swastika is a hate symbol tied directly to white supremacy and Nazism, and it has no place anywhere. (Other than in the Buddhist and Hindu iconography that it was stolen from.) I don’t know if it was solely anger that made me act or a part of me just wanted to protect others from seeing it. The problem is that even though I removed the image, the white supremacy isn't gone. Someone in our community was driven to put it there and someone in our community learned these ideals somewhere. White supremacy is so often framed in the past tense and as “elsewhere” but a simple line drawing put it in my neighborhood and in this moment.
Swastika graffiti defaced and replaced with a heart. Jane Stormer, 2020.
Example 2
Who we honor reflects how we hope to be remembered, so we must be careful about who we honor. As someone who has studied a lot of art and art history it is easy to see that people are often honored by being painted, sculpted, and having their names put on buildings. Now more that ever we must know that it is important to look beyond titles and wealth when we are considering who we honor, because often impressive titles and excessive wealth aren’t gained by treating people well. Do we want to be remembered as a society of morally questionable people with fancy titles and too much money?
One example that fits this role is Thomas A. Hendricks. As someone who used to represent Hanover College, I have said this name a lot over the years. Thomas A. Hendricks was an alumnus of our school who attained many titles, including Vice President of The United States of America. His wife donated money to build a library on campus to honor him. I referenced his many impressive titles in admission presentations and campus tours. We even had one of our merit scholarships bearing the Hendricks name. All of this existed with no issue until a few years ago when I and others googled the man.
Using Hendricks’ own words is more effective than any description that I could ever give in describing his shameful ideals. Before I quote Hendricks, it is best to remind you of the definition of white supremacy according to Merriam Webster Online,
“the belief that the white race is inherently superior to other races and that white people should have control over people of other races.”
That being said, here is a quote from Thomas A. Hendricks from the floor of the senate,
“This is the white man’s Government, made by the white man, for the white man.” *
And another quote by Hendricks from a congressional debate addressing African American people who were enslaved,
“I am speaking of a race whose history for two thousand years has shown that it cannot elevate itself. I am speaking of a race which in its own country is now enshrouded by the darkness of heathenism, the darkest heathenism that covers land on earth. While the white man for two thousand years past has been going upward and onward, the negro race wherever found dependent upon himself has been going downward or standing still. . . . What has this race ever produced? What invention has it ever produced of advantage to the world? . . . This race has not been carried down into barbarism by slavery. The influence of slavery upon this race- I will not say it is the influence of slavery- but the influence of the contact of this race with the white race has been to give it all the elevation it possesses, and independent and outside of that influence it has not become elevated anywhere in its whole history. Can you tell me of any useful invention by the race, one single invention of greater importance to the world than the club with which the warrior beats to death his neighbor? Not one.”*
I don’t need to unpack these statements to show Hendricks was a white supremacist, but if you need me to feel free to comment and we can have a conversation. One of the best contrasting opinions to the final quote that I have seen has been Ibram X. Kendi’s “Stamped From The Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas In America” where he discusses how white people claimed many of the innovations that came from the African continent just as they claimed their bodies for labor. Looking beyond Hendrick’s words, how did he act on his white supremacy during his time in many high profile elected offices? As a senator, he voted against the 13th, 14th, and 15th amendments, also known as the Civil War Amendments. The 13th amendment banned slavery and involuntary servitude, excluding the occasions where someone is being punished for breaking the law (for more on that loophole watch 13th on Netflix if you have not already.) The 14th amendment gave citizenship to people born or naturalized in the United States, giving citizenship to black people. The 15th amendment gave citizens the right to vote regardless of race, color, or past servitude. This kind of voting record is again, a clear statement of his ideals aligning with white supremacy because he believed that the formerly enslaved people should not be protected from becoming enslaved again or holding any rights that our constitution guarantees for all.
Why would anyone honor such a man? In my case ignorance was why, and I have learned that lesson. We need to be better at understanding the legacies that we are honoring. Once I overcame that ignorance, I started pushing our Vice President of Enrollment Management at Hanover College to change the name of the scholarship that had the Hendricks name on it. When I left my position, it had not been changed. At some point in 2020 amidst the national outcry over racial injustice, the change was made because all of the merit scholarships are now named by titles like “Founders” or “Presidents” and not by names. I am glad the change was made, but I wish changes like this could be made proactively instead of re-actively. The pace of change in higher education is frustrating. There is often so much talk and committee work that any action is often lost in the cycle of each term and each year. Now we know that things can change quickly in higher education, the lightning quick responses to COVID-19 have proven that, can colleges and universities start looking at the problems that are fundamentally caused by systems that were built, as Hendricks said, for white people and by white people with more urgency?
Hendricks Library is a more challenging issue to tackle than a named scholarship. The building itself was commissioned by Hendricks’ wife, Eliza, in the early 1900’s to honor Vice President Hendricks after his death. His name is carved into the stone entablature of the building (pictured above.) There is a plaque (pictured above) on the front of the building outlining all of his impressive titles but none of his horribly offensive ideals and actions. The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, so tearing it down or erasing the name isn’t really an option. Would that be appropriate in this situation? Would scratching his name out like I did with the swastika address the issue of why it has remained there in a place of honor for over 100 years? Hanover College has been politely ignoring Hendricks Library and the white supremacy bound to it, which is often the way we do things in Indiana. If the Hanover College of the past was proud enough to accept Eliza Hendrick’s offer to build a library to honor her husband, then the Hanover College of the present should make it very clear who Thomas A. Hendricks was and share how he used his exceptional education to do great and terrible things. Own it, acknowledge it, write it down, publish it, say it out loud, and learn that quietly honoring a white supremacist for over a century reflects the way the college wants to remembered.
What does exposing white supremacy accomplish? When white supremacy sits quietly and unacknowledged, the damage that is done through ignorance and honoring ideals that hold people back. Exposing it makes us see how blind we can be and involves some self-realization. This is why people tend to get defensive when white supremacy is exposed within the systems that they have been comfortable operating in. They are not always ready to recon with how their own identity is tied to these systems and the legacies that have been honored. How do we evolve past the ignorance that hides white supremacy if we continue to lift up the people who we shouldn’t be proud of? It will take uncomfortable conversations and blog posts, as a start. It makes me wonder what would be different now if all of Hanover College would have been honest about Thomas A. Hendricks’ legacy for the past century. How would alumni be interacting with the world differently now if they had read a plaque that said something like this:
Thomas A. Hendricks September 7, 1819-November 25, 1885
Vice-President of the United States
A member of the Hanover class of 1841 , Hendricks represented Indiana in the U.S. House of Representatives 1851-55, and in the U.S. Senate 1863-69. He was Governor of Indiana 1873-76, and at the time of his death was Vice-President of the United States. His widow gave this building as a library (1903-52) in memory of her husband. Hendricks was known as “The Professional Candidate” **by his allies and his foes for his numerous candidacies. He supported the Union in the Civil War, but was critical of President Lincoln’s leadership. He denounced slavery, but he didn’t support rights of people freed from slavery when he voted against the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments as a senator. His duality carries an important cautionary lesson, no level of achievement will off-set the balance of the evils of white supremacy.
Now Hanover College hosts a second alumnus in the role of Vice-President of the United States with Mike Pence. Pence has followed in the footsteps of Hendricks by attending the same school, serving in the US House of Representatives, as Governor of Indiana, and now as Vice-President. As a second “Professional Candidate” I suspect he will run for senate when he leaves the West Wing. In a month where we have seen the Trump administration refuse to denounce white supremacist groups, try to defend the legacy of Christopher Columbus (Colonialism was also fundamentally white supremacy), and Pence’s own denial of the existence of systemic racism; it is clear that white supremacy is yet another footstep in which Pence follows Hendricks. My question for Hanover College is, would a statement like the one above about Hendricks, and clearer instruction about white supremacy within systems and within ourselves have been a better education for Vice-President Pence rather than ignoring it? If the answer to that question is yes, then someone needs to order a new plaque.
* I referenced this blog from the Indiana Historical Bureau for some of the historical information and quotes in these statements:
https://blog.history.in.gov/thomas-a-hendricks-the-constitution-as-it-is-the-union-as-it-was/
** I referenced this phrase from the UVA Miller Center website:
https://millercenter.org/president/cleveland/essays/hendricks-1885-vicepresident
